Restrict social media to counter terrorism: Army chief Bipin Rawat

Army chief Bipin Rawat on Wednesday said that it was important to have curbs on the internet to counter terrorism.

“I understand that in a democratic country people might have issues when we put curbs in place. But it is important to restrict the use of social media to tackle terrorism,” the Army chief said.

He further said that terrorism had two sides to it — militant and political. “It is important to tackle both. Many may argue that there is no point in banning political outfits since they don’t indulge in terror activities directly, but we should not forget that they support it,” he added.

“Anyone who uses violence as a means to an end is a terrorist. We need to identify the nations that have a state-sponsored policy to support terrorism,” he said. Once they are identified, he added, “The nations had to do their own job. While there should be international support, the nation still needs to work on countering its own terrorists.”

Further commenting on ways to counter terrorism, he said it was imperative to identify who terrorists were and which are the nations that support terrorism.

The Army chief also listed the importance of biological chemical weapons and the threat that comes with it. “Terrorism is here to stay. Unless all countries come together. Terrorism cannot be the new warfare. It has been seen that those nations that support terrorism often become victims of it eventually. So if you want a safe home, then we need to work towards ending it,” he said.

The Army chief also said it was important to identify where the terrorists get funds from. General Rawat added that one must “look at where poppy and cannabis grows”.

Commenting on the media coverage of terrorism, he said it was important that terrorists should not be made into heroes. “The more you give coverage to terrorist activities, the more you give them popularity. But can we control the media? We must ensure that terrorists are not made into heroes,” he said.